Fork: rook to d6 (d8)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1455 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A fork is one piece attacking two targets at once. Look for a knight, pawn or queen move that lands where it hits the king (or a bigger piece) and a second undefended unit on the same turn — the opponent can save only one.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king h2, rook d1 f1, bishop d6, knight g1, pawn a2 b2 f2.
Black: king h8, rook d8, bishop g7, knight h5 e6, pawn g6 a7 b7 h7.
8 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (19 against 18; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h2, the black king on h8.
It is Black to move on move 27, with 31 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: f.
The Black king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
27... Rxd6 28. Rxd6 Be5+ 29. Kh1 Bxd6
Why it works
- Brilliant! The rook on d6 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.6).
- Well found: bishop to e5 (+2.5).
- Strong! bishop to d6 is the sharp choice (+2.7).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxd6, then Be5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27… Rxd6 — rook to d6 (capture)
- 28. Rxd6 — rook to d6 (capture)
- Be5+ — bishop to e5 with check
- 29. Kh1 — king to h1
- Bxd6 — bishop to d6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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